Team Herald
PANJIM: After initial contradictions on the deadline to finalise the much awaited Regional Plan 2021 (RP21), it is not clear that whether actual work to rectify the plan would commence this year before December, leave alone its implementation.
Long delays, ad hoc decisions, bypassing of draft and notified RP, protests by people and massive environmental destruction have been the hallmark of the almost two-decade long planning process. The State government’s exercise for a suitable RP21 has been virtually in a ‘draft’ stage for almost 20 years, leaving the State dependent on RP 2001 for planning.
In his budget speech last month, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar assured the State Legislative Assembly that the RP21 would be finalized by December 2017. However, his cabinet colleague and Minister for Town and Country Planning Vijay Sardessai had expressed reservation on the same.
Sardessai informed media persons on Wednesday that the work on RP21 would commence before end of this year.
In the first ever meeting chaired by Parrikar, to chalk out a plan to go ahead with RP21, the Cabinet mooted the concept of incentivizing the efforts to retain the old Houses or green patches in the State, in a bid to protect State’s greenery and heritage.
“Whatever we have discussed in the meeting, keeping that, the work on RP21 will commence before this year end,” the minister said.
Earlier, during the meeting that was attended by TCP officials and member of SLSC, Parrikar expressed shock over the entire procedural delay in rectifying RP21. He questioned as how, such long time was taken to draft a modified plan for only three talukas- Sattari, Canacona and Pernem- which were approved by TCB Board at the fag-end of the earlier BJP government tenure.
Chief Minister was later informed that the fresh process commenced only in January 2016, wherein in the first phase fresh public inputs were sought.
